Veteran cop plans to run for King Co. sheriff

Just weeks after King County Sheriff Sue Rahr left office, the race to succeed her is shaping up.

Sgt. John Urquhart, a veteran cop and former spokesman and advisor to both Rahr and Dave Reichert, revealed his plans to run in a questionnaire submitted to the King County Democrats. The questionnaire is required in seeking an endorsement from the party. Seattlepi.com obtained a copy Wednesday from the organization’s website.

Urquhart, who retired last year after 24 years with the agency, wrote that he plans to announce his candidacy next week. When reached Wednesday by e-mail, he responded with this statement:

“My daughter is coming into town on Monday from New York City. After a family meeting, I will have a formal announcement later in the week.”

In his questionnaire, Urquhart said the Sheriff’s Office needs stronger leadership and accountability.

“The Sheriff’s Office is at a crossroads. We are currently headed down a road where we run the risk of losing support of the citizens we serve. This is because of a lack of leadership within the Sheriff’s Office,” he said.

“Under my leadership, Sheriff’s deputies will be the best trained, the most responsive, and will demonstrate values of the community in their actions every day,” he said.

Urquhart, 64, might be most recognized as the gruff, yet colorful cop who fielded reporters’ questions outside high-profile crime scenes. The media-relations officer for both Rahr and Reichert, he was part of their inner circle and often acted as a liaison to the County Council and Executive’s Office.

“I had a reputation, not only with the press but also with the community, for being honest, straight-forward, and transparent as I provided both information on the good and bad,” he said.

He also served as a patrol officer, field training officer, and street-level narcotics detective, and investigated everything from property crimes to homicides. The police documentary show “COPS” once shadowed him while on duty as a plainclothes vice detective in Seatac.

If elected, he would beef up the Internal Investigations unit to “assure quality, thorough and timely” investigations of alleged police misconduct. The unit, he said, has been “decimated.” He also said he’d create a use-of-force review board to examine cases in which someone is seriously injured.

“Make no mistake. Use of force is unavoidable in police work. But there are questions we should be asking,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office is officially nonpartisan. Urquhart said he plans to seek endorsements from “all political spectrums” but holds political beliefs in line with “traditional values of the Democratic Party.”

“Of course I intend to serve as a Sheriff for all of King County,” he said.

If Urquhart runs, he’s likely to face interim Sheriff Steve Strachan, whom Rahr handpicked as her successor before she left office to become director of the state Criminal Justice Training Commission. Strachan, 47, said he intends to run for the job. For more on Strachan, read here , here and here.

Rahr recruited Strachan in 2011 from the Kent Police Department, where he was chief for five years, to be her chief deputy. Prior to that, he was the police chief for two years in Lakeville, Minn., where he’d also been a longtime officer. He also served as Republican state legislator.

Urquhart grew up in North Seattle and attended Ingraham High School and the University of Washington, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business. He started his own company — a wholesaler of electrical construction material — that he sold before joining the Sheriff’s Office.

He lives on Mercer Island with his wife of 37 years. They have two daughters, ages 27 and 30.